The invention relates to a process for the preparation of fruits and vegetables containing carotenoids.
Carotenoids are a class of pigments whose colour varies between yellow, red and orange, according to the fruit or vegetable considered and the concentration in the said fruit or vegetable. They comprise lycopene, carotenes and xanthophyll. These carotenoids are present naturally in certain food compounds, such as carrots, tomatoes and various other yellow and orange-coloured fruits. It is known that they can be degraded over time under the effect of light and oxygen as well as following treatments at high temperature.
Various methods for preserving products based on fruits and vegetables manufactured industrially have been commonly used for a long time, but use of chemical preservatives, which are poorly accepted by consumers at the present time. It also is already known to protect carotenoid-type colourings with a tea extract. Japanese Patent Document No. JP- A 62-126953 in the name of Hasegawa KK relates to a protection of carotenoids by a tea extract and a mixture of this extract with the pigments to be protected. This method is intended for the stabilization of carotenoid colourings and exhibits various disadvantages for application to food products, the first being that if an extraction of tea is carried out, only certain protective and stabilizing compounds are removed from it and a considerable part of the active ingredients are still lost during processing into a marketable product. It may therefore happen that some compounds which may be beneficial for the protection of the said carotenoids are not present. Moreover, the extraction of the tea, its mixing with the carotenoids extracted, the concentration and the drying are additional stages which increase the cost of the finished product. Finally, when the extract is mixed with the product to be protected, there will be an immediate consumption of the protective compound, such that there will be no protection over a long period.